Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the renowned tabletop RPG brand Dungeons & Dragons, Hasbro’s Entertainment One will release a documentary billed as “the definitive perspective” on the subject. The film, starring True Blood’s Joe Manganiello and directed by 1UP’s Kyle Newman, will feature an extraordinary quantity of secret and never-before-seen footage, therefore the studio has recruited Manganiello and Newman to helm the project. Timed for the franchise’s 10th anniversary, 2024 will see the release of the ultimate role-playing game. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson created D&D in 1974, and the company Tactical Rules Inc. was responsible for its distribution until Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast bought the company in 1997.
To this point, the game’s basic tenets should be familiar: a Dungeon Master (or DM) creates a fantasy world and a mission for a group of adventurers to complete, and the players get to act out that world’s events as they see fit. Evidence of the game’s impact may be seen in a wide variety of fantasy media, from other role-playing games (such as the legendary Final Fantasy series) to prominent online video makers and streaming services (such as Critical Role) to the game’s own merchandising and spinoffs.
Over the course of its existence, the series has amassed more than 50 million followers, making it one of Hasbro’s most popular offerings. Together, Manganiello, Newman, and executive producer Adam F. Goldberg have come a long way to make this documentary. In addition to significant assistance from Wizards of the Coast, all three have been painstakingly collecting exclusive rights for the movie, resulting in an astounding 400 hours of unseen video dating all the way back to the game’s conception.
In a first for the corporation, they granted them access to its most top-secret processes and game-related materials. Along with that trove of data, they also interviewed famous players to hear firsthand how the game has affected their lives. Both Maganiello and Newman are huge fans of D&D, so eOne couldn’t have found better people to tell the narrative. Manganiello is an official brand ambassador, author, and presenter of a celebrity Dungeons & Dragons club. Meanwhile, Newman is a New York Times bestselling author thanks to his work on the Dungeons & Dragons books Dungeons & Dragons: Art & Arcana and Heroes’ Feast: The Official Dungeons & Dragons Cookbook.
Manganiello, together with his brother Nick Manganiello, Anthony Savini, and Cecily Tyler, will produce the upcoming documentary. D&D expert and Art & Arcana co-writer Jon Peterson serves as an executive producer with Newman and Goldberg, as well as eOne’s Tara Long and Geno McDermott. In a statement, Manganiello shared his enthusiasm for the project and his admiration for the long-running tabletop game. My brother and production partner Nick and I are doing a documentary, and I couldn’t be more pleased or happy to be working with Jon and Kyle. I witnessed firsthand the ascent, collapse, and subsequent revival of a legendary brand that not only had personal significance for me, but also inspired many thinkers, writers, and artists over the course of an entire generation. Without Nathan Stewart at Wizards of the Coast, my always supportive employer from the HBO/True Blood days, Michael Lombardo, and the great crew at eOne, none of this would have been possible.
The D&D documentary starring Manganiello and Newman is only one of several eOne has planned that are inspired by the game. The cast of Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Chloe Coleman, Daisy Head, Hugh Grant, and Jason Wong return for the next film, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, set for release on March 4, 2023.